MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas University Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications
Jacob Pumphrey has announced that
Kayte Ledbetter has joined the department as the new Assistant Director of Athletic Communications. The official announcement was made on Thursday, September 15.
"I am excited to have the opportunity to bring Kayte back to Magnolia," noted Pumphrey. "It is always special when a Mulerider gets to return home and this is no exception. Her love and passion for Mulerider Athletics will fit right in with the department and I can't wait to see how far she takes this new venture in her athletic communications career."
No stranger to Southern Arkansas University or Mulerider Athletics, Ledbetter graduated Summa Cum Laude from SAU with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications: Mass Media in May 2022. She was a member of the SAU Cheer team for two years in addition to serving for a year and a half as a student assistant in the athletic communications office at SAU.
During her time in the department, Ledbetter performed multiple tasks on gamedays including tracking statistics, sideline reporting and live play-by-play broadcasting in addition to other press box functions such as scoreboard and music operation.
Most recently, Ledbetter, who is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, served as a Communications Game Day Associate with Major League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals from April to September of the 2022 season.
While with the Cardinals, Ledbetter collaborated with co-workers to research, write and produce the daily Minor League Reports and assisted with press box preparation and management pre- and post-game by providing gameday materials such as scorecards, lineups and game notes. She gained a knowledge of programs such as MLB Research, Baseball Reference and StatsPass to research up-to-date, seasonal and career player and game statistics.
Additionally, she operated and helped staff the Media Will Call window as well as managed credential distribution to media and VIP guests.
Ledbetter also brings a plethora of social media experience into her new role after serving as the social media coordinator for Physiques Fitness Center in Magnolia for a year and a half during her time as an undergraduate student.
In that role, Ledbetter planned, implemented, and monitored client's social media content and campaigns to promote business, study engagement and execute targeted advertising campaigns, conceptualized and developed video content for client's website and social media publications and created and utilized new social media accounts in order to optimize exposure to new demographics.
Currently, she serves as a brand ambassador for Celsius Energy Drink which sees her promote the brand's newest products and partner companies through various social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
